India’s Anti-Corruption Movement – Revealing the Corrupt and the Obtuse

India’s anti-corruption movement is now in its fifth month – and has united all Indians in what is an obvious, common cause. The movement is completely non-violent, not a single violent protest or incident has happened in spite of massive gatherings exceeding hundreds of thousands of people. As much as for Indians themselves, the movement has been an eye-opener for other countries (where the citizens lament that they do not see such activism anymore in their own land).

The leader of the movement, Anna Hazare, is a man as simple as the thought behind the movement itself. The idea behind it is so simple that a 1st grader in India gets it. Illiterates – who have never read a written word in their life, get it! Beggars on the streets of India get it! High flying fashion icons in Bollywood get it!

Why then, do some of India’s smartest intellectuals fail to get it? Here is a list of people who have openly criticized the movement and the leader of the movement, Anna Hazare. Not a single one of them has proposed an alternative – yet they are all adamant in labeling the movement as a failure. For them, I have some breaking news. The movement is already a huge success! Whatever happens from here on – whether the bill gets passed or not – the movement itself has accomplished what has only been accomplished twice in India’s recent history:

A complete unification of all Indians – across state lines and across all strata of society.

The only other events that were big enough to accomplish this unification were the original freedom struggle (under Gandhi, Nehru, Patel’s leadership) – and the Kargil crisis (a threat from a foreign power).  This movement, rightly nicknamed ‘India’s second freedom struggle’ has already united the country in a matter of months.  By any standards, it is already a success.

Here are some notable public figures who have made their displeasure at the movement, evident:

The Anti-Anna Squad

Arundhati Roy (Civil Rights Activist)

She had several objections to the Lokpal bill and to Anna Hazare in general. After reading all her arguments, I am still not sure what her problem is/was. The one argument that I did understand was her fear of a ‘parallel structure’ (parallel to the government), that the people would be answerable to. 

While that would be a valid concern, the Lokpal panel, as proposed, does not have absolute power. They remain subservient to India’s Supreme Court. Any Lokpal member accused of ‘going astray’, will be tried in the Supreme Court. If Ms. Roy has a better suggestion, she should propose it. Shalini Singh provided an eloquent and fitting response to Ms. Roy’s objections

P. Chidambaram (Union Home Minister – in charge of India’s overall security)

Of all the intellectuals in Congress, this man has probably the most eye-popping credentials. Yet, not only does he completely fail to get the civil protest on the streets, he actually ordered the Delhi Police (under his jurisdiction) to arrest Hazare. He went on record to say that nowhere in the world is change brought about via fasting – which makes one wonder whether Chidambaram would actually prefer a more violent form of protest to the peaceful one that he has on his hands.

Kapil Sibal (Human Resource Development Minister – Responsible for Education and Literacy of all of India)

Continually kept promoting the ‘Government Version’ of the Lokpal bill – an extremely watered down version of the actual bill – which will have little or no effect on existing corrupt officials.

Ambika Soni (Information and Broadcast Minister)

Singing the same tune as Chidambaram and Sibal, she was part of the gang of geniuses who thought ‘arresting Anna’ was a good idea.

Manish Tewari (Member of Parliament and Congress Spokesperson)

Lashed out against Anna Hazare – charging Hazare with corruption. This is a typical ploy in Indian politics. If someone charges you with something – you charge them back with the same thing – implying that they lack any moral ground from which to make their charge. Anna was smart enough to completely ignore Mr. Tiwari – and continue with his protest. Mr. Tiwari has been extremely quiet since then.

Revealing the Corrupt and the Obtuse

To me, the anti-corruption movement is of course slowly revealing who is corrupt and who is not. But the country already knew that! (see the top 10 most corrupt politicians in India). What the movement is revealing, much to everyone’s surprise, is how obtuse those in power really are. L.K. Advani made a comment against the Prime Minister stating that he was clueless and not in touch with the rest of the country. The same can be said for just about everyone towing the party line on this issue. It is as if Anna has just pointed out that the Emperor has no clothes – yet the party is sticking to their line The Emperor is wearing a bright red suit (and anyone who says otherwise is blind). Just how dumb do they take the Indian people to be?

Summary – Skeletons in the Closet? Missed Opportunity?

Instead of considering this movement as a problem, if the Congress had any smarts whatsoever, they would see the real opportunity here. They can be THE party that helped eliminate corruption from India. Imagine the public support and goodwill that would have generated for their party. Instead, their party line was a defensive one. Which only implicates them all the more. Only someone hiding guilt would fail to seize this opportunity – and go on the defensive. Perhaps all these people have skeletons in the closet – which is why they are so averse to the Lokpal bill passing in its current form.

Thoughts? comments?